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During the drive I got to preview some of the music we'd be sharing later. It was a quick drive. We arrived at the Portofino Hotel at 10AM. Check-in was not until 3PM so we dumped our baggage into the hotel's storage room and dashed over to the registration line. We figured that since we've pre-registered, getting our badges would be quick and we'd be on our way to "Sakura Taisen" and other AX activities. Or not.
Every line at the registration area felt like Ouroboros. No one seemed to know where the line began or ended. We ran into Ziggy and Positive Space and realized that we pretty much were the "Sakura Taisen" gathering today. So instead of having it at 1PM at the area between the Con Center and the Hilton, we could have had it at the registration line. But those two had to change into their ST costumes first.
I suppose I could rant about how ridiculous the registration line was and how bored we got waiting there. I must admit that spending four hours in line was not exactly on my schedule for AX. I must also admit that I never actually HAD a schedule for AX outside of maybe a few trivial matters and one major matter because I did not intend to attend AX in the first place. So instead of stressing about missingfirst dibs at the dealer room or missing that panel with that voice actor who did that character and that character and that character and that other character I may have cosplayed from, Victoria and I decided to make the most of what we could see there. It was potentially more entertaining than Masquerade.
As per this new arrangement with Scarlet Rhapsody Productions and Drunken Fist, I've opted to take a lot less pictures in favor of filimg a lot more incidents for the convention music videos while Victoria provides most of the pictures for the both of us to use. Works out pretty nicely that way.
There was quite a bit of stuff going on in the snake-like lines. Gatherings taking place on the fly like Naruto and Guilty Gear XX, Duck Duck Goose, random weapon fighting done by "experts" (though if they were the experts they claimed to be, they wouldn't be so stupid as to start sparring in the middle of a crowded area), freebies from AX staff, and a cameo by the new and improved Man-Faye (the boots were a better upgrade than the other upgrade he did). Strangely enough, all pictures I have of him were lost in a careless action in an attempt to conserve batteries for the camera.
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Filmed clips include the lines, Wayne with his staff, a twirling cosplayer, a game of hat frisbee, Naruto goodness, a rolling Vash, and some idiotic sparring between the lines. At around 2PM, the "Sakura Taisen" gathering members acquired their badges and had their gathering at the designated location.
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After the ST Gathering, Victoria was jones-ing for a cup of Starbucks. We met up with the group of people standing in line behind us who introduced us to that 10-Fingers game. There at the Starbucks, we encountered something even scarier than Man-Faye's costume: The old woman who would not shut up. She was ranting about something along the lines of her needing psychiatric help to dying an early death (or maybe a different person). I couldn't understand half of her spiel and did not intend to. I did find a way to shut her up when I was trying to film her diatribe for further research. Since she wasn't willing to voice her opinions onto the camera, I guess she wasn't too honest and therefore was not worth paying attention to. I did end up catching a clip of her speech.
Filmed the first encounter with Gainax Boy. I remembered the creation of him at our room during Ani-Magic 2003. It doesn't really matter to me since I don't do Gainax cosplay yet.
With the room finally ready, Victoria and I unpacked and set up operations in Portofino Room 1322 with Andy and Nasir. Once finished and about to shift gears into our "Fruits Basket" costuming, I decided to make use of Nasir's props and my white suit to get a quick photoshoot of one of my rare costumes: Brad Crawford. If I ever get around to seeing more "Weiss Kreuz" (I've only seen about 30 seconds of Brad from the second episode of the series) I may actually wear it to a gathering.
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Costume Count: 02
Total Costumes: 02